Luther senior Ryden interns at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota

An interest in wildlife rehabilitation lead Luther senior Anna Ryden of Minneapolis, to an internship at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota.

Ryden, daughter of John Ryden, graduated from Southwest High School in 2014. She plans to graduate from Luther in spring 2018 with majors in Environmental Studies and Biology.

Ryden worked in the mammal nursery where her main duties consisted of preparing food, feeding the animals and cleaning cages. Because each type of animal requires a different type of care, she was able to learn the specifics of taking care of a wide variety of animals. In addition to the daily care, Ryden also had the opportunity to create enrichment for the animals. She would leave toys and puzzles in the animals’ cages for them to play with and learn from. Through the enrichment opportunities animals learn the skills that they need to survive in the wild.

Through this internship, Ryden learned a lot about herself and her potential career paths. She now feels much more comfortable with animals and fully recognizes the need for wildlife hospitals as a means for the community to become more involved with the wellbeing of their wildlife. This internship experience made Ryden excited about wildlife rehabilitation as a potential career, especially in a natural setting.

Approximately 10 percent of Luther students take an internship for academic credit each academic year. The Luther College Career Center assists students with their internship search through resume preparation, networking, online internship searches, career fairs, on-campus interviewing, and connecting the student to alumni through the college’s Alumni Internship Program. Students also meet with a faculty adviser prior to the internship to create an internship learning plan that includes learning goals and assessment benchmarks.

An internship work supervisor also assists in the process by writing an evaluation of the student at the end of the internship. Students complete a self-reflection form to help finalize the learning experience.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.